Streetsblog San Francisco

The MTA this afternoon released analysis of bus stop spacing showing what anyone who has been on Muni knows: there are way too many stops too close together (PDF). Overall nearly 70 percent of the 4,000 bus and rail stops in the city don't adhere to the MTA's own distance policy, and its clear to the operator that consolidation of stops would speed service and cut costs dramatically.  Furthermore, staff suggests the board might want to consider an increase to the distance between spaces as a matter of policy.

"I'm glad they've done the research. It's an option we've wanted the MTA to explore," said Livable City Executive Director Tom Radulovich. "There's a tradeoff, every stop has a constituency.  The other thing that unfortunately has happened is that keeping every stop has been mythologized as a social justice movement.  We've heard that seniors don't care about speed, poor people don't care about speed, they care about stop spacing. Some analysis that I've seen from the TEP shows the opposite to be the case, some seniors care very much about travel times."

Radulovich added: "There needs to be rigor to it so that it's not political and not arbitrary."

MTA staff noted that nationwide research indicates most people are willing to walk a quarter-mile (1320 ft) to access local transit, though they note that spacing distance should be reduced on steep grades. Further consideration would be given to important transfer points and destinations such as schools, hospitals, and other community facilities. Staff also suggested that approximately 20 percent of delay on the 15 most-used routes is dwell time, due in large part to the density of stops, though it should be noted that the MTA could introduce faster payment options, bus bulb-outs, separated lanes, etc to reduce dwell times.

In their presentation, MTA staff highlighted the 9-San Bruno, a route that has 126 total stops, 70 of which are too close. If 9 inbound and 11 outbound stops were eliminated, MTA estimates it would achieve a 7 minute (5 percent) running times savings and an annual cost savings of $200,000 in operator costs alone.

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As the MTA Board considers solutions to reduce its enormous $129 million deficit, bus stop consolidation should be at the top of its agenda.  Bus stop removal is one of the easiest engineering solutions to speed up service, but the political fallout could be significant without a groundswell of organizing and support from those who would benefit from service improvements. 

The MTA's current bus stop spacing policy is the following:

1. Passenger stop spacing should be approximately 800-1,000 feet on motorcoach and trolleycoach routes except where there are steep grades, and 1,000-1,200 feet between stops on LRV surface lines.

2. On streets with grades of over 10 percent, stops should be spaced 500-600 feet apart. On streets with grades of over 15 percent, such as on Castro between 22nd Street and 24th Street, stops may be spaced as close as 300-400 feet.  There are no special grade guidelines for surface rail (Muni Metro and Historic Streetcar) because the technology limits operation well under 10 percent inclines.

Bus stop spacing is usually balanced by density, topography and the guidelines you see above. Said Aimee Gauthier at the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy, based in New York:

Ideally, bus stops are determined not by distance (like every block) but by actual passenger volumes. In general, bus stops should be spaced so that they are a reasonable walk between stops (that differs according to who you are talking to and the context [uses, activities around there], but usually it is a within a 10 – 15 minute walk). 

Many stops in San Francisco, however, do not fit the above criteria, including instances of single blocks with multiple stops.  If Muni eliminated stops now, or at least began an experiment, trying out one line, it could save them precious running time costs and improve service and reliability.

Muni actually revises bus stop spacing [PDF] more frequently than one might think, though in a recent interview, MTA Executive Director Nat Ford told Streetsblog San Francisco they aren't planning to release system wide bus stop consolidation recommendations until after the budget process is over.

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